1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an image capturing apparatus and, in particular, to a technology to allow a display unit having a display screen to be slidable with respect to a camera body having an image-capturing lens.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image capturing apparatuses (such as video cameras and still cameras) that are capable of capturing moving images or still images are in widespread use.
The image capturing apparatus includes an image-capturing lens for capturing the image of a subject, buttons for performing a variety of operations for taking a picture, and a display screen for displaying an image when taking a picture and playing back the captured image.
Among such image capturing apparatuses, some image capturing apparatuses include a camera body having the image-capturing lens and a display unit that is slidable with respect to the camera body. The image-capturing lens is disposed on the front surface of the camera body. An operation unit including the operation buttons for taking a picture is disposed on the back surface of the camera body. In addition, the display screen is disposed on the back surface of the display unit (refer to, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-98071).
In the image capturing apparatus described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-98071, the operation unit including the operation buttons for taking a picture is exposed to the outside regardless of the sliding state of the display unit with respect to the camera body (refer to FIGS. 1 and 2 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-98071). However, when no pictures are taken, the whole display unit can be folded onto the camera body (refer to FIG. 1 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-98071).